Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy claims Kevin Feige Star Wars project ‘never got developed’

Christopher Rosen
·4 min read
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In a new interview with IGN, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy addressed reports that Marvel leader Kevin Feige’s planned Star Wars project was shelved by saying the potential film actually “never got developed.”

“Kevin Feige’s project was something announced in the press, or I suppose fandom. But there was nothing. Nothing ever got developed. We never discussed an idea,” Kennedy claimed in the interview. “As everybody knows, Kevin’s a huge Star Wars fan and if he did come up with something, I would be all ears. But that’s never really happened. So, it’s not an abandoned project, it just didn’t happen.”

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Feige’s involvement in the Star Wars universe was actually first revealed in 2019 by The Hollywood Reporter. In that story, it was reported Feige had discussed his possible film with Kennedy and former Disney studio co-chair Alan Horn. Asked then about Feige’s project, Horn provided a lengthy statement to the trade publication: “We are excited about the projects Kathy and the Lucasfilm team are working on, not only in terms of Star Wars but also Indiana Jones and reaching into other parts of the company including ‘Children of Blood and Bone’ with Emma Watts and Fox. With the close of the Skywalker Saga, Kathy is pursuing a new era in Star Wars storytelling, and knowing what a die-hard fan Kevin is, it made sense for these two extraordinary producers to work on a Star Wars film together.”

That same year, Feige briefly commented on his opportunity to join the galaxy far, far away, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I love that world and I love the notion of exploring new people and new places in that universe,” he said.

News about the project stayed quiet until early 2021 when Deadline reported Michael Waldron – who worked with Feige and Marvel on “Loki” and “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness” – was hired to write a script for the Star Wars feature. Then last year, during interviews for the “Doctor Strange” sequel, Waldron was happy to discuss working on the project as it was being developed.

“We’re finally into it in earnest. I mean, I’m writing away. It’s a lot of fun. I’m enjoying having the freedom on that to do something that’s not necessarily a sequel or anything,” Waldron told Variety of the Star Wars script he was writing for Feige. “It maybe has a little bit less of a — it just doesn’t have a bunch of TV shows and movies that you’re servicing on top of it, the way I did with ‘Doctor Strange.’ So it’s nice. It feels like a different exercise.”

Asked in a separate interview with The Playlist if he found it different working with Feige on Star Wars as opposed to Marvel, Waldron said not at all. “It’s driven by character, and ‘who are some great characters, and what’s a great story?’ And it’s really as simple as that,” he said.

While it seems Kennedy isn’t actively working on anything with Feige, the Lucasfilm leader did unveil a trio of potential Star Wars movies during Star Wars Celebration last week. In addition to bringing Daisy Ridley back to play Rey in a new film, Lucasfilm also hopes to release movies from James Mangold (about the very first Jedi) and Dave Filoni (a project that would tie together the Disney+ Star Wars television universe).

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